Pivot Point

Today was a day.

Do you ever feel like you are just in a period of waiting in your life? Like God has something he needs you to do, but it's not time yet? I have felt like I've been in a period of waiting for a while. Today was a day of agitation. Not that I was particularly agitated with anyone, just that I felt on edge all day. Like today is a day I'll go back to and see the pivot point. Like the heel is dug in, but the foot is swinging. Which direction will it face? The heel is dug in, in faith, in my God, because I know in all he is there.

I got my CT scan results. I have a "midline umbilical incisional hernia". The doctor is out of town till Wed. The receptionist read me the results. I called my friend Lisa, who happens to be a nurse for a little translation. It looks like surgery again. I know in the big picture a hernia is not the end of the world. It's just that surgery with three little people means missing out on stuff with them, it means worry for them, it means imposing on people to help take care of us. All things I don't want to do. But I don't know who God will put in my path through all this. There is always a reason. There is always good that comes from everything. I don't know enough yet to get too worked up, but maybe that is why I'm worked up. I like answers. Seems I have many more questions than answers...but I have faith that they will come.

Mike the Mold Man, as my dear friend, Amy, calls him came for a visit tonight. He was not exactly what I expected. Amy has him so magnified in my mind I thought he might have a white gown and wings! He did not. We do have mold. No surprise. We'll know in a few days what the cost of taking care of that will be...this could be a major pivot in our lives. I was hoping that Mike would come in with great wisdom, some sort of great revelation, instructions directly from God. I found this voice saying, "Marci, he's just a human, you've put too much on a human." True enough. He didn't have any straight forward answers for us although he did ask us a question. Although Mike(my mike, not the mold guy) didn't get it, I did. He asked, not once, but twice, "Is this the best the King has for you?' Hhmmm...

Maybe I'll delve deeper into that later, but now, I'm headed to bed.

We are all here, in our house, safe from the storms, together. This too is the day God has made.

Super Quick Praises!

Everyone made it to church!

Hugs from favorite girls.

Everyone went to the mall!

No one threw a tantrum!

Three well behaved children, almost all day.

I was only $0.18 over my needed Gymbucks total. I was excited. Mike just shook his head.

Sales girl and my mom understood my excitement.

Beautiful day outside.

Sunday afternoon nap. (if you're in our grown up Sunday School class, I mean a Sunday afternoon sleep!)

Bible Study. Tonight was a good one. Scepters and all! =)

Beautiful evening for playing outside.

Art projects done, shopping complete.

Lat night facebook chatting with grounded teenagers.

Everyone sleeping in their own beddy byes.

Tomorrow I should get CT results and meet Mike the Mold Man...the world might never be the same!

Goodnight!

Quick Praises and a Shopping Tip...

Yesterday went well. I do wish they had warned me about the IV thing. It took 4 tries to get it going, but other than that all went well and I will hopefully know if there is anything strange in my pelvic and abdominal area soon...isn't that what you all tuned in to find out?? =)

Lily had her last day of fifth grade! She went with me for my CT and then she and I had a nice lunch at artsy cafe in the city, followed by a little mall time.

My sitter Megan who kept my boys so we could have a girl's afternoon! I'm going to miss Megan when she heads off to college soon!

A peaceful evening with my little people at home while Mike went and installed some cabinets for friends.

So far, a beautiful, quiet Saturday morning. Lily and Finn are out playing. Mike and Dax are visiting some woodworkers paradise. The beds are made, the dishes are done. It's beautiful outside!

This morning Dax was upset after his sister pushed him. He ran and laid in bed, Finn came running in, tipped his head sideways, waved and said "hello Dax". He then climbed up beside him, gave him all of his special stuffed animals and said "I lub Dax". Ahh these are the moment I love! I only wish I'd had my camera close by!

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Yes, I did say shopping tip...

It's my favorite store, Gymboree. Yes, I know, I just warned you about what happens to girls overly matched as preschoolers who grow to resent this as preteens. I do not have any information on how brothers whose mother likes to occasionally coordinate their ensembles will turn out. I'll let you know in 6 or 7 years. But for now, I can't help but love Gymboree. Why? Because their clothes are pretty cute, and they make getting a bargain a challenge, a game. Oh how I love these silly games. All the head math and hunting. I really need to be doing something more useful with these skills...if you have suggestions, let me know!

So, Marci, quit rambling and tell us the tip! Ok, while in the store yesterday I had a little heart to heart with one of my sales girls (yeah, they kind of recognize me, sad, I know...it could just be that my kids are loud and obnoxious, not that I'm in there too often!) . Ok, back to the sales girl, she shared that on Sunday they would be having a "stuff the bag" sale. You get one of their reusable bags and whatever you get in the bag you get 30% off, this includes all the $6.99 and $8.99(and less) stuff they have on clearance. This would be a good sale, but what makes it better is that you can use a coupon on top of this. In three Magazines May issues, Fit Pregnancy, Parents, and Cookie, there are 20% off your entire purchase coupons. So I say 20% off of 30% off of clearance prices is a good deal! Let's just say, I'll be getting those monkey shirts I've been eyeing!

Thursday praises!

Finn waking up every time we prodded him throughout the night. Getting up this morning happy and acting totally normal with only a minor scrape and a light bump/bruise.

An uneventful start to the day with two boys and a mom dressed and out the door on time!

A brunch with the Bible Study ladies. End of the year! We made it through Beth Moore's Daniel and we lived to tell! Great girls! Hope they do more homework next year! =)

We retrieved our stroller that had been left in the rental car! yeah!

Chit chatted with my favorite nurses at the the doctor's office. They told me what I should be watching for with Finn, but did not seem to be too concerned. One of the nurses grandsons who is only 7 weeks old also fell last night. He has a skull fracture and a small brain bleed. He had to be care flighted out but it doing ok now. Please pray for this little guy!

Finn going happily along with all my silly quizzes for him today; "touch your nose! touch your nose with the other hand! Squeeze my finger. What's your name? Touch your toes. Run!" etc...

Him telling me for the first time that something "smelds, smelds guuud" He said this while holding down his nose. He went to the window and pointed out the neighbor "mowin" "mowin smeld guuud". Love it! His nose is working!

He was trying to write letters today too. Could a fall cause a weird section of the brain to start functioning more? hhhmmm

Talking to my sister in law and getting some good updates on my nieces. Dax will be so happy to get to finally go to Aunt Stacey's next week! We all would like to meet Isobel, but he is especially anxious!

Getting my CT contrast dye down without it coming back up! That stuff tastes a tad like someone mixed up some acid, Elmer's, and chalk then tried to pour a little vanilla extract into it to camouflage the taste! One more bottle tomorrow. CT is at 12:40, prayers for everything to show up as it needs to and me to be calm, and use the time wisely would be greatly appreciated. Prayers that major surgery is not needed would be even more appreciated!

Thursday night with some girls! Not all girls but some. I needed the night out. Thanks, Mike for tackling the little people so I could regroup with some big ones!

A rather uneventful day. Amen!

One of those days...

You know those days, you know the ones where you come to the end and you are just glad it's done. The ones where in the middle of the day the praises are not flowing freely. By the end though, by the end there are most definitely praises. So I guess tonight I want to walk back through it so I can find the praises I missed along the way.

Still laying in bed this morning, two boys bouncing on my bed. One eating a granola bar, the other carrying a box of cheerios and a plastic cup, asking me to pour some of the cheerios into his cup. I kept asking them to hop out of the bed so I could say a quiet prayer and get up. From a distance I hear my daughter yell...."Hey, Mom, See ya later".

Let's stop here. I'm not a fan of little boys with food jumping on my head first thing in the morning, but I am a fan of two little boys who can find what they need and having food in the cabinets to feed them. There are sweet little 2 and 4 year olds out there in this world with no food in their cabinets, no cabinets at all, and they've probably never known what it's like to snuggle with their mom in a cozy bed early in the morning. I'm thankful that they were happy, silly even. There will be a day that those guys will have much better things to do than hang out with mom.

Ahhhh...when I hear these words come out of Lily's mouth and she has not come to my room before hand I know whatever she is wearing is not something I'm going to approve of. I called her back. She told me she couldn't, she'd be late. Hhmmm...I must have forgotten what time school starts or I really slept in! Finally she obliged and there is was a lovely non matching ensemble with shorts that were too short. It really looked as if she just picked up the first two things she found and tossed them on, but apparently she had put some thought into this. I made her change. She did a lot of griping, a bit of muffled chatter, and a bit of random yelling at anything that came in her path. We still did not agree on what she left wearing, but it was better than the first outfit, and she still made it to school on time. *warning, years of sweet "matchy. matchy Gymboree wearing may cause your preteen to rebel against all things that coordinate in any way. Just wanted you moms of sweet little Gymboree clad preschoolers to be aware of this possible side effect now...

I am eternally grateful to have a daughter. Growing up, there was nothing I wanted more. I am glad 5th grade is almost over and the summer break almost upon us. I am glad she is strong and artistic. Although these qualities sometimes infuriate me now, I know one day they will benefit her greatly. I know sooner or later it will dawn on her that if I didn't care I wouldn't argue with her. I have seen some amazing bouts of compassion and empathy in her lately. As I watch her struggles to find her way, it takes me back to those years of my own life. It makes me grateful for my own mom and for where I am now. Makes me also very thankful that I found a husband that would take on my issues. Mike and I just laugh when we think of what Lily's husband will be like!

I spent a little time with the boys, took a shower, headed to the basement to get everyone clothes and returned upstairs to a strange smell. I went immediately to my bedroom where I could see a little head sitting on the floor on the other side of my bed. This was definitely where the smell was coming from. The "hair basket," a basket full of hair accessories and other oddball things that occasionally get tossed in, that usually resides on my dresser was empty on the floor beside him. He was chomping on a Hall's cough drop that must have been at the bottom. He had also apparently decided to paint his toe nails a nice shade of hot pink. I must say, for a two year old boy he had done a remarkably good job. I picked up the basket, and sent him back to watch Sesame Street. I started to dry my hair and not 30 seconds went by before Dax walked in with a bottle of Benedryl with a child proof lid, open. He says, "Mom, Finny had this medicine at the little table". Finn now has the cotton from the pill bottle stuck to his Halls covered sticky fingers. As I was cleaning up the hair basket, he had apparently high jacked my purse. I sent he and Dax to the bathroom to wash their hands and I counted pills. None missing, I think...

Warm water in my shower, oh how I wish I could spend twenty minutes in this havenly place. But can you imagine if my shower was more than 4 mintues?? There was no nail polish on my carpet, my bedding, or any place besides his toes. Maybe tomorrow I'll get a picture of his nails...today was just not really a picture taking kind of day. Dax was incredibly responsible in noticing the medicine and confiscating it, immediately, reporting directly to me and not trying one for himself. He took the big brother roll and helped Finny clean up his hands. Finn did not eat any pills. It could have been much worse, in many ways.

My doctor's appointment was not what I wanted to hear. I have a CT scan scheduled for Friday. I will take all the prayers anyone wants to send. Seems my January surgery and the infections that followed may have caused more issues which may lead to more surgery. I was really hoping she'd just find some quick, easy to fix, explanation for some of the issues I've been having.

I didn't have to wait long in the office today. I had my wonderful friend, Sarah to take care of my boys. I had some quiet time to deal with some of the not so positive thoughts going through my head. There were so many people that I passed by today that looked like things where much harder for them than for me, those moments gave me a chance to pray for them, and their caretakers, and get over myself for a few minutes. And that is just it, there is always something worse. I may not be thrilled about this news, but I still need to be praying for others and not throwing a pity party for Marci. This doesn't make me happy about it, but I know God always has a plan, always. Whatever is coming can be used for His glory, every bit of it.

When I picked up my darling boys, Dax threw one whopper of a fit about how he did not want to leave. He yelled off and on until we got home. He was so worked up he ended up having an accident in his pants. This has only happened once before since he's been potty trained.

I stayed completely calm. Well, I did have a face to face, hand on the jaw conversation about appropriate behavior. But overall, I turned up the God music and let it soak in. I sang. I stayed calm all the way to the potty, he calmed down, and almost immediately fell asleep. He apologized later. I had some quiet time with both boys sleeping. I'm glad there are places he feels that safe and that happy that he doesn't want to leave. But, I'm open for suggestions on how to curb this kid of response, because I am honestly tired of being told that he wants me to "go away" when I come to get him from friends house. I'm tired of being embarrassed by that behavior. He is sweet as can be later, loving and gentle. I just wish I knew how to level this kid out.

The evening seemed to calm down a little. Finn was full of it, bouncing all over, fighting with his brother. They all went outside. They were finally enjoying themselves and each other. I went out and cleaned up some ride ons to take to church (clearing out a few more things from the garage for Mike), Mike helped the kids get the new climber arranged the way they wanted it. Things were good. The pizza guy came (yeah, you know those days). We were headed in for dinner. Dax and Mike were in, I had just stepped foot in the back door, Lily and Finn were getting off the climber. Then there was a crash and screaming. I turned back around, to see Lily scoop Finn ep after a face first tumble off the climber, about two and a half feet off the ground (I tell you this because my mother was envisioning a 6 foot drop, just wanted to clarify) onto the driveway. (we were planning to move the climber to the grass as soon as it was a tad less muddy, let' just say we moved it tonight) As she was bringing him to me he was screaming. She started yelling "Breathe, Finn!" I grabbed him, as I did, he stopped moving, passed out, his eyes glazed, his face had a blue tint. I yelled his name, yelled to Mike that something was really wrong and started running for the door. Mike grabbed the phone, started dialing 911, just as I hit the side door, he came to and started screaming again. This probably all lasted 45 seconds from the moment Lily handed him to me, until he started crying again. Those seconds seemed to be hours. I don't think I have ever in my life been so scared. Mike hung up the phone, he was so scared he had forgotten to push the "talk " button so the call had not yet gone through. We sat down with Finn, checked pupils, hand grip, made sure everything moved, and asked him lots of questions. After snuggling for 10 minutes or so he took some Motrin, jumped down and ran to the back for pizza. All evening since, he has talked, played, and done everything else like normal. He has a small lump and a scrape on his forehead and a little scrape on his nose. I imagine in the morning he may have a black eye or two.

The gratitude is almost beyond words. I am so thankful Mike skipped his meeting tonight because he knew I had a hard day and he didn't want to leave me alone all evening. I'm so glad he was here. I'm glad to have come across this article online tonight which calmed me and my mother, 3 states away, down. The description sounded almost exactly the same. He has held his breath before when he's been hurt, but he's never passed out. I'm glad the Internet gives you resources as to what to be watching for over the next days. I'm grateful to have a nurse in my morning Bible study that might know a little something about head trauma who I will be consulting with in the morning, hope she is ok with that! I'm thankful that he keeps waking up every time we go in and rattle him. Mostly I am beyond grateful for this child. For this little person who makes us laugh and cry. This little "bonus" that God gave us. Seeing him run through the kitchen with a smile on his face tonight was worth more than any amount of gold. It can all change, in the blink of an eye. In that moment it was so real, in that second life could change. Why do we waste days whining? Why do we choose to see all the things we don't have rather than the things we do? When I finally stopped shaking, all I could think was how blessed I am.

Thank you, Lord, for this day. For knowing my mom is right there even 3 states away, for knowing my husband and I are in this together, for giving me every precious moment of this life with these amazing little people, and for knowing when this one is done the one You have waiting for us is beyond words. Thank you, Lord, for this day ending with us all here together just like yesterday. Do you think maybe you could make tomorrow uneventful? =)

Holiday Praises and a few more...

Memorial Day has come and gone and we are so blessed to have a day to play and spend with family given to us by those who have gone before us.

Our Memorial Day was pretty chilly and rainy. I loved watching the boys hang out in the garage and playhouse playing with their tools & tool bench helping Daddy build and fix things.

We spent the late afternoon at the movie theater. All three little people did really well! Mom was planning to go see Earth but I was over ruled and we saw Night at the Museum. It was ok, except I'm just waiting for my boys to start emulating the battle scenes.

Dinner. Hmmm....our children were complete heathens. So what I'm grateful for is that we made it out of the restaurant in one piece, Finn fell asleep on the way home, and we finally got to use one of the gift cards our sweet confirmation class gave us for Christmas. Thank you guys!

We still have one more gift card to use. We will be using this one alone with no kiddies!

Emails from new blog friends! Giving away some of HIS seeds.

Today we had a cleaning day. Not that this is really a blessing, because my house is still not really "clean" and it would be lovely to hire this job out....however I am very thankful to be able to do it myself and that all the laundry that was covering my laundry room floor is now done!

The kids and I had a little adventure this afternoon. We went to a neighboring town to check out a really cool little tikes climber. Can I say I love craigslist? I love when we just run into great people. We enjoyed spending an hour playing with our new friends and came home with a new big climber. We are parting with our old one. If anyone is close by and wants to by a climber, drop me a line! =)

One hour on Craigslist and all the rest of this magically vanished, which made my husband happy!

My husband for dealing with my weird scavenger hunt mentality when it comes to large and/or expensive children's items. I love the hunt to find them for great/amazing deals. It, like my baby name thing, is a sickness. So I'm very grateful that when I called Mike and asked him to meet me on his way home from work to haul this baby home he did with a smile on his face.

My mom for listening to me share my quests and my finds with interest. I'm so thankful for unlimited long distance and the ability to sit down and chat almost every night with my mama.

We Have a Winner or Two.... and more praises...

We decided since today was the first church day without Sunday School that we would not wake anyone up and we'd go to church if today was like yesterday and everyone was up at 6:30am. Today no one woke up until 8:15 and Finn slept until 9:30! Needless to say we didn't make it to church but we did have a wonderful day together rejoicing in the beautiful day He made!


We finally had enough empty time on a beautiful day to scrub down all of the big outside toys and get them up and running. Dax has been waiting for his sand and water table for weeks!

Everyone enjoyed the "scrubfest" and ended up soaking wet. Perfect thing on a hot spring afternoon! I didn't have my camera out for that one...I guess I was a little afraid!

This morning we had a baby bird come to visit. I think it may have been it's graduation from the nest day. It manged to get stuck in our garage and Mike had to carry it out to the front yard. I convinced my boys, whose first reaction was to chase it, to sit quietly in the grass and watch. Soon we saw a male a female cardinal come to prod the baby on. They never went too far, chasing other birds out of the yard and chirping at the baby. It didn't really look like a cardinal baby, not that I'd know what one looked like, but this little guy was pretty ugly. Maybe he was just in his adolescent period of gangliness with no pretty red yet. These cardinals were definitely it's parents, prodding and protecting. It's amazing to watch God's creations and how their parenting instincts are just like ours. Push him, and protect him. Just like God wants to do for us, push us and protect us. I last saw these guys sometime this afternoon as they chased a blue jay out of the yard. I take it that is a good sign and the little gangly bird might have found his wings!


Tacos and happy boys eating tacos made our Sunday that feels like a Saturday evening complete!

Everyone is snuggled up watching Tinkerbell on the Disney channel and thee cool breeze is blowing in the windows. God is good.

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And we have a winner! Or two...

Tonight the boys in all their usual exuberance helped me choose our winner. We had to make two changes to the original plan. First, due to my husband leaving both my favorite stroller and our Seeds of Courage CD in the rental car we had last week while our car had a little dent banged out of it we will need to change the CDs up for grabs. I am hoping to get both of these things back, but the car was rented out the next morning with our things still in them and we are just saying a little prayer! I figure maybe the person renting the car for the long weekend needed a little Seeds. So we are now taking the Courage CD out of the choice list in case ours doesn't make it back to us in one piece! This leaves Seeds of Faith and Seeds of Praise, both are great CDs! The second thing that changed was the fact that I thought the random number generator seemed cold and detached, and being that I didn't have hundreds of entries, I thought it would be more fun to do things the old fashioned way. You know, write the names on scraps of paper and put them all in a Barbie cup and let someone draw a name.

Problem, I have two someones who really wanted to draw a name. So we decided, two CDs, two winners. First name drawn gets to have their choice of Faith or Praise. So here it is, the crazy, noisy, chaotic video of two little boys drawing names of the winners...

**After watching this video, my mom would like me to clarify that Lily was the one helping hold the names up in front of the camera. So it is Lily's hand you see, as well as Lily who Dax was yelling rudely at. Mom just thought I should make sure you all did not think it was me he was yelling it. (Because of course, he would ever say any thing that was not sweet and sincere to his darling mother) Welcome to the world of three kids trying to "help" although I know many of you are familiar with this scenario!**

Welcome to my world! Congratulations, Amy! I know many many Amys but this one is new to me! I've been learning a little about her over at her blog, In Search of Normal. Homeschooling 6 kids! You need some musical interludes in your day! I love that you use Star Wars names for all your little people and I must say that little Yoda is quite a cutey!

Our second CD is going to be cheap on the shipping! Congratulations Melissa S.! We know that Ella will love this as much as Finn. Maybe they can do a duet for next year's WATCH talent show!

Thank you all for commenting. Thank you to all those who I know stop in all the time and to those of you who stopped by for the first time to try for some great music! Remember, if you didn't win (like I never do!!) go here to get your free download off the new Seeds CD and to get a code for 25% off any other music you might want to buy from them!

And just so you know, I don't work for Seeds. I don't even know anyone who does! I just feel blessed to have found them and love waking up with His word dancing in my head almost every morning!

Saturday Praises...

Long holiday weekends where Saturday gets to feel like Friday with everyone home!

Warm sun, blue skies.

Birthday parties with friends.

Farm parks with feed cones, beautiful black horses, and plenty of hungry ducks and goats to munch on your cones.

Spending the day together.

A certain little newly turned two year old who has developed a few fears, which he refers to as "scaredy".

A strong courageous big brother who although he has his own insecure moments is still Finn's brave big brother.

I love how Dax reached back and held Finn's fingers.


This has to be my favorite! I love those few moments each day when I see true sweetness shine through in my little people!

Having a brave strong Daddy to protect my guy from those ferocious miniature horses too!

Playing outside into the evening with dinner cooking on the grill.

A phone call from my brother in law telling us that my sister in law and little Isobel are home from the hospital. Pictures in the email box of Isobel and her big sisters! They are all beautiful!

More comments on this blog then ever all because of Seeds of God's word! If you haven't entered for the giveaway, go to this post and leave a comment.

I am enjoying jumping over to some of the blogs that you visitors to the blog are coming from! I'm hoping to at least take a peek at each of them! I really am excited you're here. Can you tell?

A quiet movie night complete with snuggles and giggles.

Everyone sleeping, at least for the moment in their own beds! =)

Seeds of Praises ...Praises of Seeds...

I have to start tonight's praises with a little dance of giddiness over the fact that those Seeds Family Worship people came for a visit! Not only a visit but they wanted to share a little something with us too! I'm so excited because I have been loving these songs from the first time I heard them and have been trying to share them with others, but I think I've just become an annoying bug in their ears...now though, it's working, it's really working! I wouldn't be sharing something I wasn't excited about and I am excited that you are excited! I'm also excited that Missy is excited and that she is sending some of her great followers over for a visit. I hope some of you will come back! I am excited that we have hit 18 comments, a record on my little blog.

So, what are those fabulous Seeds people wanting to share? Check this out the are giving us our own little link to a free download from their new 5th CD and a 20% off code to order any CDs on their site! Remember, when you buy a CD they send you a bonus extra copy to plant with someone else. We could totally start our own little bloggy rain shower of family worship music all over blogland! Now if I can just get them to come on up to Illinois for a little family worship fun we'll be in business! =)

If you want a little more insight into this wonderful ministry go visit their website and if you have time for a little fun go check out their YouTube page.

Are you wondering if you're too late to enter the giveaway, you are not! Go to this post and leave me a comment. It looks like this post will actually close on Sunday! We have made it to more than 10 comments! And my niece has a name!

Yes! this leads me to my praises of the evening! My little niece born yesterday at 1:10 pm weighing 7lbs. 15 oz., measuring 21", has a name!! Mike's brother Jeff called tonight and shared that she is officially Isobel Eva. Which which made me giggle a little because Lily was almost Isabella. Dax would have been Annabel, and Finn would have been Eva. Little Isobel caught them all! Still no Quinlan in our family. Maybe she just hasn't made her appearance yet!

My mother and mother in law have both been reading my blog for over a year leaving nary a comment. In one week they have both managed to master this feat! Amazing! Welcome moms! Next they'll be blogging!

Today was a sunny day with no schedule of events. I love days where there is nothing planned. Pajamas stayed till 5 and things even picked up (not that they stayed that way!)

It was a little loud today. Seems Finn's teddy bear learned to play the piano. It's quite amazing to me that a newly turned 2 year old can have the thought process to use the bear's paws when Mama says "Please don't play the piano" so that he could say "Finny no play, bear play".

Spending some time alone with Finn "chatting".

Finn telling me his "big brudter is a big monser" Yes, son, sometimes he is. And sometimes that big monster has a cute little monster for a baby brother!

God time. Hot tea. fleeting seconds of quiet. Esther. Beth Moore. Journaling until you know that God is still right there, just like always.

Four year olds that tell you that you are the best mommy. I love how the timing of this comes right between the "I'm soooo starving" and the tantrum about needing a $60 rocket ship while in Kmart.

Ahhh Kmart. Thank God for friends who don't judge when they here your children throwing tantrums across the aisles, find you looking like you just rolled out of bed, even though it's 7:30 pm and love you anyway. They even understand how you'd rather be somewhere alone maybe even enjoying a drink with an umbrella in it!

Lily being home on time from her friend's house. Even better, summer fun with friends. Oh how I remember looking forward to summer!

Finding musicians that I love visiting my blog. Remember the last time this happened?

My husband. After walking out of the mad zoo that was Kmart and deciding we wanted Mexican from our local restaurant for dinner but no way were we taking our kids out, he devised a plan. We came home, fed the kids, put them in the tub, and then while I read stories and tucked in the troops he went and picked up a little take out. I called my mom for a quick version of our evening chat and he returned home and set the table.

Starting a day in a bit of a funk, progressing to bears loudly playing pianos, children throwing tantrums in public and then ending with a candle lit meal in peaceful quiet talking with a grown up, one I haven't really had much alone time with as of late, this is finding a little joy in my journey. Praise Him for it always being right there if you just take the time to see it.

Two Days of Praises and a Giveaway!

**Update** Giveaway is closed! But you can still download a free song from Seeds here and get a code for 25% off their music! Thanks so much to the Seeds people for sharing this with us!

The Seeds we will be blowing your way in our first Giveaway at the end of this post!



Two beautiful days for playing outside!


My blogger is looking perfectly normal tonight!!

The American Idol Finale. Love seeing the humble good guy pull it off! Or maybe I should say that I love that our country is still choosing the humble guy next store as the kind of person we want our kids to look up to. Yay for Kris! It was quite a show!

Spending time sitting on the floor with the boys taking turns giving me hugs and kisses. I know these days won't last forever. I couldn't help this song running through my head as they decided to do a joint hug and I just held them both and rocked them. The smell of their little boy hair, and the sound of their little boy giggles. I just wanted to bank it in my memories forever, the sound, the smell, the feeling of their squishy, squirmy little tummies. Love.

After school chats with a preteen. I hope they stick around for a long time. I hope they one day turn into late night phone conversations with a grown up daughter.

Late night phone conversations with a grown up mama, a couple of states away.

My little brother and his faith and strength. His fiance, and how much she loves him.

Youth group scavenger hunts. I love these girls. The make me laugh, even sometimes cry, and always roll my eyes =). Have a great summer girls!

Bible study final exams. Oh yes, I liked it! =) My Bible Study homework slackers. I am thankful that they let me lead them, or just let me follow Miss Beth following Jesus and doing all the homework for them. I'm glad we made it to the end of Daniel all in one piece, and I for one feel slightly smarter!

A bubble container that really does not spill! Really! There was no screaming, no one ended up wet, and we still have bubbles left over. Small things are totally worth praising, let me tell ya!

Having my camera out to catch Dax's first fall off his bike!

The helmet and hostas that softened the blow and made for great pictures!

The little brother that went running to "Hep Dax!"



A 2 year old who sees no reason why he can't climb the tallest tree in the yard.

The innocence that makes spiders crawling on cars both intriguing and a bit "scaredy"all at the same time! The sweet anticipation of the end of the school year.



The baby bunnies bouncing in and out under the shed.



A long weekend looming with not to much on the agenda.



A sweet husband who both cooked dinner and did the dishes.



A sweet new baby niece sleeping somewhere out there tonight with her mommy and daddy and two new big sisters waiting for the little one to come home to join them! A healthy, uneventful delivery. I'm still waiting for a name...I'll share more details when I have them!!




The beauty that God laid all around us so that we wouldn't forget He is always near.

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Did Someone Mention A Giveaway??

Oh yes! Oh yes she did!

In honor of my 25oth post, the sweet sweet feel of the warm sun being out for 4 days in a row, Memorial Day weekend, and Most especially my new little baby niece, I am feeling like I should give something away!

What? What should I give? Hmmmm....how bout a seed? It is spring, right?

About a year ago I read this blog post over at It's Almost Naptime and thought, wow, great idea, I'll have to get one of those CD's.

When I say Bible verses set to music you probably think, "oh yeah, exciting" followed by an eye roll. I've been reading Missy's blog long enough to know that she probably wouldn't be playing some sort of headache inducing hokey music for her kids. She just seems a bit more hip than that. It took me until Christmas to order one. We started with Seeds of Purpose, we were hooked.

Since then we and the Seeds Family worship CD's have bonded! We now have 4 of them and listen in the car, in the boys bedroom, and my favorite, at clean up time. We put one of these on right before lunch and we alternate dancing and cleaning up toys. Finn dances his little heart out! It is totally praiseworthy! Dax yells "Dance Mama, Dance" if I keep cleaning during a dance song, he's good, that guy!

Seeds is doing something new with their packaging now. They have a great concept of how planting God's word is like planting seeds. They now send you two copies of each CD when you by one. One to keep and one to share. So we are sharing...with YOU!

Here is how it works! The winner of this little giveaway will receive one brand new Seeds CD (never played, can't guarantee some little hands haven't pried off the tape that once sealed it shut). You may choose between Seeds of Courage, Faith, or Praise. We close this contest when the last of these three things occur Sunday, 10 comments (all from different people!) on this post, and my new niece has a name! So...this could close Sunday, or it could be July, we'll see! =) Until then, you can go here and listen to a few of the songs on the CD! Enjoy!